Genre
Blues sheet music
12,293 titles in the index · page 1 of 200
Blues sits across the copyright line in a way most genres do not: the pre-war repertoire is largely out of copyright and available free, while post-war recordings and modern arrangements are not.
The listing below covers guitar tab, piano blues, harmonica and vocal editions, and instructional collections.
Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus
When All of God's Singers Get Home
To Me, It's So Wonderful To Know Jesus Is Mine
He Is Here
Hold On To God's Unchanging Hand (Hold To God's Unchanging Hand)
Climbing Higher And Higher
He Washed My Eyes With Tears
My Savior First Of All
Then I Met The Master
Child Of The King
What A Precious Friend Is He
Some Glad Day
We'll Talk It Over
Heaven's Jubilee
I'm Living in Canaan Now
When He Calls I'll Fly Away
All Aboard
I'm Free
'Til The Storm Passes By
How About Your Heart?
Born To Serve The Lord
The Old Gospel Ship
Little Is Much When God Is In It
Is My Lord Satisfied With Me?
Sweet Jesus
Unworthy
The Sweetest Song I Know
I Don't Regret A Mile
Where We'll Never Grow Old
I Don't Want To Get Adjusted
Tell My Friends
Give The World A Smile
What A Happy Time
O, My Lord, What A Time
Beautiful Isle Of Somewhere
The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power
The Eastern Gate
Faith Unlocks The Door
Farther Along
Give Up
Had It Not Been
He Looked Beyond My Fault
How Beautiful Heaven Must Be
How Long Has It Been
I Bowed On My Knees And Cried Holy
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
I Never Shall Forget the Day
I Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now
Buying guide
What to know before you buy
What notation can and cannot capture
Blues notation is an approximation by nature. Bent notes, microtonal thirds and the swing feel of a shuffle are all written as conventions rather than described precisely, and two players reading identical pages will not sound the same. Guitar editions add bend, slide and vibrato markings; piano editions notate the shuffle as straight eighths with a swing indication at the top.
This makes instructional editions unusually valuable in blues — a transcription with explanatory text about feel is worth more than a bare transcription.
Where the free material is
Pre-war country blues and classic blues recordings are mostly out of copyright, and the archives we index carry transcriptions and period sheet music. W.C. Handy's published blues, and much of the 1920s repertoire, are freely available.
Post-war Chicago blues, and any modern transcription of any recording, remain in copyright regardless of how old the underlying song is — the transcription itself is a new work.
Common questions
- Can I find free blues sheet music?
- For the pre-war repertoire, yes — much of the 1920s and 1930s material is out of copyright and held in the archives we index. Post-war songs and modern transcriptions are in copyright, including transcriptions of old songs, because the transcription is itself a new work.
- How is a shuffle notated?
- Usually as straight eighth notes with a swing indication at the top of the piece, rather than written out as triplets. The notation is a convention; the feel is not fully specified on the page.